TÁ TÁ Eatery and TŌU founders looking to further develop katsu sando concept

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Popular pop up TÁ TÁ Eatery is to end its residency at Tayēr + Elementary in Shoreditch this month, with founders Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng looking to take the opportunity to further develop their spin-off katsu sando concept TŌU.

Announcing the news on Instagram, Gonçalves and Meng wrote that “all good things must come to an end”, confirming that March would be TÁ TÁ’s final month at Tayēr + Elementary.

TÁ TÁ Eatery originally launched as a stall on Druid Street market in Bermondsey back in 2015, with a focus on creating fine dining dishes in a street food setting.

It subsequently undertook a series of high-profile residencies in the capital, including at James Knappett’s Fitzrovia restaurant Kitchen Table; Curio Cabal on Kingsland Road; and Borough Wines in Kensal Rise.

It was at the latter that the couple gained notable acclaim on social media for their Iberico katsu sando, which proved so popular Gonçalves and Meng created a spinoff concept based around it called TŌU, which launched at Arcade Food Theatre last summer.

Speaking to BigHospitality, Gonçalves said the pair plan to focus on the TŌU brand in the coming months.

“From April we’ll be spending more of our time at TŌU to develop the brand and we have some very exciting collaborations lined up, which we can't wait to share with you all,” she says.

Gonçalves also says that this isn’t the end for TÁ TÁ Eatery.

“We loved every minute of our year-long residency at Tayēr and Elementary. Developing the menu within one of London’s smallest kitchen counters [there are only four seats] was one of the most exciting projects we have taken on in our careers so far. We now want to take some time out to re-consolidate and map out TĀTĀ Eatery's next steps and future journey. But it will definitely be back soon.”

Tayēr and Elementary is a multifaceted bar space launched last year by globally recognised bartenders Alex Kratena and Monica Berg.

In a statement, Kratena and Berg said: “We've had a great year working with Ana and Meng, and are pleased that we were able to host TÁ TÁ Eatery as the first chef residency at Tayēr + Elementary.  We'll be announcing our next collaboration in due course, but in the meantime are looking forward to enjoying our final month with the team.”

The growth of the sandwich space in London has led to a recent swell of katsu sando-focused concepts in the city, with chef Angelo Sato launching Yatai at Market Halls West End last year; and Alan Yau opening Italian-Japanese sando restaurant Mozzasando in Kensington last month.